Biden seriously considering proposals on Supreme Court term limits, ethics code, AP sources tell AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is seriously considering proposals to establish term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices and an ethics code that would be enforceable under law amid growing concerns that judges are not being held accountable, according to three people briefed on the plans.

He would mark a major shift for Bidenthe former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has long resisted calls to reform the Supreme Court, though since taking office he has become increasingly vocal in his belief that the court is abandoning traditional constitutional interpretation. The details were first reported by The Washington Post.

Any changes would require congressional approval, which would be unlikely in a divided Congress. But with Republican nominee Donald Trump boasting about appointing the three justices who are now part of the conservative majority to the Supreme Court, Biden’s call for major changes could help motivate his voters.

Biden is also considering seeking a constitutional amendment that would eliminate the blanket immunity the court granted presidents during his last term, after Donald Trump claimed he was immune from prosecution. for his actions on January 6, 2021when a mob of his supporters violently descended on the United States Capitol.

The people were not authorized to speak publicly about proposals that have not been finalized and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Consideration of such proposals follows growing outrage among Democrats over Supreme Court opinions that historic decisions overturned on the right to abortion and federal regulatory powers that had lasted for decades. Growing questions have also been raised about the ethics of the court following revelations about some judges, including that Clarence Thomas had agreed GOP megadonor’s luxury travels.

In an interview with BET on Tuesday, Biden predicted there would likely be “two more nominations” in the next four years as justices retire and criticized Trump for appointing three conservative justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. “Just imagine if he had two more nominations, what that would mean,” he said.

The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposal.

Biden, who spoke with the Congressional Progressive Caucus over the weekend, raised the possibility, the sources said. Biden often tells voters they need more Democrats in Congress and a Democrat in the White House to counter the impact of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, but these proposals would go much further.

“And by the way, I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court, because I’m about to go out. I don’t want to announce this prematurely, but I’m about to introduce a major initiative to limit the Court and what we do. I’ve been working with constitutional scholars for the last three months, and I need your help,” he said, according to a transcript of the call.

About 2 in 3 Americans say they support term limits or a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court judges, according to a 2022 survey by The Associated Press Center for Public Affairs Research-NORC.

According to a June survey of the Supreme Court, trust remains low: 4 in 10 American adults say they have little confidence in the people who lead it.

The survey found that 7 in 10 Americans believe Supreme Court justices are more influenced by ideology, with only 3 in 10 American adults believing justices are more likely to provide independent checks on other branches of government by being fair and impartial.

In November, the court adopted its first code of ethics. Politicsaccepted by all nine judges, does not appear to impose any significant new requirements and leaves compliance with these requirements to each judge.

Republicans have focused for years on overhauling the federal judiciary and the Supreme Court. When Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell was majority leader, he refused to meet in 2016 with Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, now-Attorney General Merrick Garland, then a federal judge. The nomination stalled until a Republican president, Trump, took over.

Members of the Republican establishment supported Trump because of his promise to appoint as many justices as possible to the Supreme Court. Their gamble worked. Trump ended up with three Supreme Court nominations and 54 federal appeals court judges, reshaping the courts for a generation.

Democrats are finally beginning to understand the power of judges as a voting tool, and Biden has made judicial nominations a priority, appointing a record number of judges for a president at this point in his first term, including some of the most diverse choices ever made to the bench. Biden often spoke of these accomplishments during his reelection campaign, but Democrats have pushed him to go further.

In a message posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump criticized Biden’s potential move, saying: “Democrats are trying to interfere in the presidential election and destroy our judicial system by attacking their political opponent, the ME, and our honorable Supreme Court. We must fight for our fair and independent courts and protect our country.”